Keep Calm & Carry On
by xNotGingerx
Summary: REVISED AND REDONE The world's gone to hell, and Matilda Washington is just trying to survive in it- even if surviving means putting up with an insufferable redneck. But she and Daryl have more in common than they think. RATED M for violence, language, sexy fun times, and various other reasons things get M ratings
1. I Don't Think You Fit This Shoe

**A/N: When you lack internet for, oh, about four months ongoing, except for the smartphone, occasional trip to the library or jacking a friend's wi-fi, you tend to lack things to do. So, I went back and heavily revised this story. Most of it is still the same (Matt's still Matt, but a little less… hectic and scattered, personality-wise), but I just went back and sort of… rewrote things. I don't know. Lately, I only write when inspired, and this new version of "Keep Calm & Carry On" is just what my brain wanted, I suppose. I do need to warn you guys that I still lack internet at home, although (fingers crossed) it'll only be for a week or two more, tops. So, I'm sorry if you guys get frustrated about my lack of updating, but know that I'm equally frustrated!**

**I changed Matt's backstory quite a bit, and now hopefully she'll make some more sense. Also, I think I fixed my inability to write logical Daryl scenes. Also, I edited the smut to make it a little… smuttier.**

**This is sort of a mini-prologue, a look at Matt around the time she first joined the Atlanta group. Chapter one will start right around the time Rick hits Atlanta. This little nibble just refused to not be written =)**

Matt stretched her arms high above her head and let out a little groan as she arched her back, grateful to hear it crack. She rolled her shoulders and neck as she looked around the camp. She was restless. She was bored. She'd been with this group for about three weeks now, and the only people who'd been welcoming were Dale, Glenn, Jacqui, and T-Dog. Everyone else either ignored her or treated her rudely. The only job she'd been allowed to do was watch, and that was after Dale insisted she be put on rotation. No one asked her to cook dinner. They didn't want her helping with laundry. They kept their kids away from her. She was the outsider, and clearly not very wanted.

Matt sighed and grabbed her elbow, lifting her arm up over her head to stretch it. She'd been doing nothing by lounge on top of the RV, keeping watch and feeling alienated. Her joints and muscles were stiff. She'd go for a short run to get some exercise, but she thought her things might not be there when she came back.

She heard the rustle of paper as Dale turned another page in his book and sighed again. She was about to explode from boredom. Hitting her head against the side of the RV would be more productive and entertaining.

She heard Dale chuckle as he turned the page in his book. She propped herself back up on her elbows and looked at him through her shades. "What?"

"Nothing, dear, nothing. I just find your ability for boredom during a time like this humorous." He smiled good-naturedly at her. She arched a brow at him- drawing attention to her eyebrow piercing- and shrugged.

"It's not my fault no one lets me do anything." She lamented, her labret glinting in the sunlight. "I sit up here, on my ass, working on my tan and keeping you company." She lay back down and tucked her arms behind her head. "I mean, c'mon, people. I don't bite. At least, not until the fourth date." She grinned as Dale chuckled again.

"Give them time. They'll come around."

She caught sight of Lori leaving her tent with a stack of papers in hand. She was probably going to teach the kids, like she did every day. Matt would kill for that job. She loved kids, and she wouldn't even mind that it was technically babysitting duty. She was even partially qualified.

Jacqui stopped Lori on her way to the card table, a basket of laundry on her hip. Matt strained her ears to hear their conversation.

"-We could really use the help. Extra hands get it done faster, you know."

Lori sighed and looked around. "Well, I suppose I could skip today, just this once. I just think it's important for them to still get some schooling." She shrugged. "One day won't kill them, right?"

Matt scrambled down the side of the RV, surprising Dale. She jogged over to the two women and skid to a stop. "I could do it."

Lori looked over at her, wary. Matt smiled and tried to look sweet. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help overhearing. I can teach them today. In fact, if it makes your life easier, I can teach them every day. I really don't mind."

Lori looked her up and down and shifted the papers in her arms. "I don't know. I think I would just be more comfortable with either myself or Carol-"

Matt nodded. "It's the tattoos, isn't it? Or maybe the piercings? Those always tend to do it." Lori opened her mouth and started to shake her head, but it wasn't very convincing. Matt held up an ink-covered hand. "Please, spare me the consolation. Look, I know I don't look conventional. But I'm not some cult member who's going to convince the kids that a life of crime, sin, and worshipping the Devil are the way to go in life. I grew up in the suburbs. I worked in a library for four years. I even got my degree in library sciences. That means I'm a certified, qualified librarian. I also maintained a 4.3 GPA throughout high school, took almost all Honors classes, and graduated a semester early. I had a 4.0 GPA in college. On top of which, " she continued, ignoring Lori's look of astonishment and Jacqui's grin, "I have a very large collection of books in my rucksack, including titles like 'To Kill a Mockingbird', 'The Princess Bride', 'The Outsiders', 'Fahrenheit 451', 'The Secret Garden', and other books that would be more than appropriate for kids their age. I can teach them English, math, science, history, and art. I usually scout for books and other things during runs, or tell Glenn to look out for stuff, so they would never go without something to do. I'm excellent with kids. I love kids. I don't mind keeping an eye on them and teaching them. I'm patient, and I know a lot of tricks to help them. I can even design little quizzes and tests." She was babbling, and felt like she was interviewing for a job, but she wanted this. She wanted something else to do.

Lori looked like she was having trouble processing all the information, but Jacqui was smiling and looked very encouraging. Matt sighed and stepped a little closer.

"Look, I know you don't know me very well. But that isn't my fault. All I want is to be a part of this group. Almost everyone's treated me like I'm not wanted here. I've been stuck on top of that RV for three weeks with nothing to do but watch the scenery. I'm bored. I'm lonely. Please let me do this. I promise, I'm a good person." She met Lori's eyes. "Please."

Lori sighed and nodded. "Fine. Alright." She handed the stack of papers to Matt, who took them with a grin. "Don't make me regret this." She warned, before letting go of them and wandering off with Jacqui.

"You won't!" Matt yelled after her. "Thank you!"

XxXxXxXxXxX

"So, you'll just carry that over like that, and… you're done! See, easy." Matt smiled down at Sophia. "Why don't you work on these next few while I see how Carl over here is doing?" She turned in the camping chair and watched as Carl finished a problem. He looked to her for confirmation and she gave him a thumbs-up. He grinned and went on to the next one.

She'd been tutoring the kids for a week. Any reservations Lori had seemed to have about letting Matt around Carl and Sophia had disappeared, and she was even beginning to go out of her way to make Matt feel included. Lori's attitude had swayed Carol, and the older woman now treated Matt kindly, as well, although her husband was still a pig. Shane was polite and charming to her face, especially around Lori and the kids, but there was something about him Matt didn't like. She avoided him as much as possible.

Amy had come around and sometimes sat with the kids while Matt tutored them. She was very upbeat and sweet, and Matt liked her a lot. Her sister, Andrea, was a little harder to get along with, but Matt still managed to avoid getting the blonde to hate her. The Martinez family was wonderful, and their children joined Carl and Sophia almost every day.

Matt took Carl's paper when he was finished and looked it over; although he had no mistakes, like she suspected. Sophia had one tiny error on hers, but after Matt pointed it out, she quickly corrected it all on her own.

"Alright, guys, we'll call it a day on math. In fact, we'll probably call it a day, period. I think it's almost time for dinner." She glanced over to the fire pit, where Andrea, T-Dog, and Glenn were milling around, although she couldn't see anything cooking.

"But what about English?" Sophia asked. "We didn't get to do any today."

"Yeah!" Carl added. "Can we?"

Matt rolled her eyes. They only wanted to do English so that they could hear her read more. She'd chosen _Treasure Island_ from her selection of books to read to the kids. It was one of her favorite books, and she'd thought they'd enjoy it. She only had the one copy, but the two hadn't minded at all when she suggested she read it to them. In fact, they were completely absorbed as she read, and yesterday Amy had been, too. Even Dale had wandered over and listened for a while. "Fine. But only until dinner." She pulled the worn paperback from her back pocket, where she'd tucked it earlier. She flipped to the page she'd dog-eared yesterday and started reading.

Amy wandered over from the RV and sat down next to Sophia as Matt read, changing her voice for each character. Dale appeared at some point, along with the Martinez children.

She had just reached chapter five when the sound of rustling foliage and snapping twigs reached her ears. She ignored it and kept reading, but out of the very corner of her eye, she caught sight of a lean figure returning to camp. As they walked past her little group, she realized it was Daryl Dixon, back from the hunting trip he'd left for at the crack of dawn. He had a piece of rope wrapped crosswise around his upper body, with what looked like four rabbits and three squirrels attached to it. He glanced over at her and the people gathered, then continued on.

Matt continued reading, keeping with her standing policy that the best way to deal with a Dixon was to ignore them. Merle, the older brother, was unbearable. He was sexist, racist, and loud about it. The second day she'd been at camp, he'd leered at her and whistled. She'd ignored him. The end of the first week, she'd overheard him calling her a "barfly" to his brother. She ignored that, too. The second week, he'd told her to "bring her tight, sweet ass on over to ol' Merle". She'd flipped him off and he laughed. Beginning of the third, he slapped her ass as she walked past. So, she racked him and told "Ol' Merle" to do something that was anatomically impossible. Now he just glared at her most of the time.

Daryl was better than his brother only in that he was quieter. He hardly interacted with the group at all, in fact, outside of scowling at them and hunting up food. He didn't even talk much to his brother, Matt had noticed. In fact, for all that Merle and Daryl seemed to be all the other had, their relationship seemed to consist of Merle calling all the shots, constantly teasing, tormenting, and belittling Daryl, and Daryl taking it all with a sullen look on his face.

Matt turned the page, smiling as she read on. Against her own policy, her eyes drifted one last time to Daryl, watching as he sat down at the shaky table near his tent and began skinning one of rabbits. Dale drifted off to help Andrea with something, and Amy reluctantly followed at her sister's yell. The Martinez children skipped away when their father called for them, and Lori and Carol collected Carl and Sophia to get washed up for supper not long after.

Matt dog-eared the page she'd been reading before shutting the book and tucking it into her back pocket again. She stood and stretched her tattooed arms high above her head, cracking her back again. Lowering them, she pulled her hair free from its very high ponytail and used her fingers to shake her hair loose. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye again and looked up to see Daryl watching her from his spot, an unreadable expression on his face.

Mildly surprised at his stare- he'd paid practically no attention since she joined the group- Matt met his eyes and smiled a little before turning away from him and following the path down to the quarry to wash for dinner.

She ran into Carl there, and ruffled the boy's hair as she sat next to him to clean up. "Getting a little shaggy there, kid." He ducked out from under her hand and made a face. She tweaked his ear and he jumped to retaliate, but she ducked away. "Ah, no touching the ears, man." She pushed her hair behind it to show off all the earrings. "Too metal for you." She teased. She had four holes in each lobe, her right conch, and her right cartilage studded. There was an industrial through her left ear. She turned away from him to rinse off her arms, and he stared at them.

"Can I see your tattoos?" He asked hesitantly. Matt glanced over at him, a little bewildered, but shrugged and pulled her arms out from the water.

"Sure. Which ones you wanna see?"

"How many do you have?"

"Well, I _did _work in a tattoo shop," Matt chuckled, and gestured to her chest. "There's this, which is one big piece." She moved aside her tank top straps a little so that Carl could get a better look at it.

"It's a moth." She explained, at Carl's confused look. "A Death's-head Hawkmoth, actually. See the pattern on its back? How it kind of looks like a skull? That's where they get their name from." The insect took up almost all of the skin above her breasts, but visible underneath it's wings and covering the rest of her skin were beautiful Oleander flowers. Each shoulder had a large, full Oleander bloom on it, as well.

"Then there's my back. I have wings there." She wasn't about to lift up her shirt, and she sincerely hoped her wouldn't ask. "There's the one on my ribs," she continued, pulling up her shirt just enough to show off half of the large jellyfish covering almost all of her left side. The very top of the jellyfish's bell started immediately below her breasts, and the very end of the longest tentacles stopped just below her hip. The background of blue and green swirls helped the creature's reddish-orange form stand out even more.

"Cool!" Carl said, recognizing the creature, although he couldn't see much of it. "Is it a poisonous kind?"

Matt shrugged. "Not particularly. More irritating to humans than deadly. It's called a sea nettle. I liked the shape of the bell- that's what its body is called- and the color." She dropped her shirt and rolled up her right shorts leg just enough for Carl to see the tattoo on her right thigh.

The two koi fish swam in opposite directions from each other, the one swimming upstream colorful and vibrant, and the one swimming downstream skeletal in contrast. The water around it was artfully realistic, as were the lotus blossoms that had been done as well. Matt rolled her shorts back down and held out her arms.

"I have more on my legs, but my boots are a pain to get off." She explained to Carl. "I'll show them to you some other time. These are the only other ones."

The girl on her upper right arm had always been her favorite. She'd drawn it herself, from a picture her best friend Grey had taken of her once while they were out and about. Her face had been tilted up toward the sun, her eyes closed and an absent smile on her lips. Matt had liked the photo and sketched the basic outline of herself before deviating from the original inspiration.

The girl's brilliant red and orange hair swirled around her face and neck, forming an effective and natural looking frame. There were white and yellow Hyacinth flowers decorating the mane. The girl's face was turned upward, eyes closed and a small, absent-minded smile gracing her lips, just like the photograph of Matt. Grey liked to use the word "serene" to describe the tattoo. The girl's upturned cheek and jaw looked as though they were being burned away.

The lower half of her right arm was a sleeve of Amaryllis and peony flowers. The lower half of her left arm was a sleeve consisting mostly of big, bright red poppies, with a large raven on the inside of her arm. The background was made up of blue and purple swirls, much like the ones behind her jellyfish. The upper half of her left arm was simply a tangle of Nightshade and the Oleander from her chest piece, with one single, large Orchid standing amidst the dark, poisonous plants. She had dark red rose on the back of each hand.

She let Carl look at all of the detail on her arm tattoos, and was about to continue washing up when he gently grabbed her left arm. "What are these?"

He flipped her arm over to reveal the inside of her arm, and he pointed to the raised lines just barely visible beneath all the ink.

Matt shook her head. "They're nothing. They're from a long time ago." She tried to take her arm back, but Carl was still investigating.

"Yeah, but you have them on both arms." He looked like he was about to touch one, and Matt cringed just a little. "And they're really straight and neat. And there's more than one. Like, seven."

"It's nothing, Carl." She repeated, tugging her arm back. "They're just old scars. Like I said, from a long time ago."

"How'd you get them?" He asked. Matt swallowed the lump that had magically appeared in her throat and tried to think of how to explain. Carl looked up at her expectantly.

Someone whistled and Matt started. She and Carl glanced over to the trail leading back to camp and saw Daryl standing there, watching them.

"Think your mom wants ya, kid. Better get."

Carl jumped up and rushed off, not wanting to get in trouble with his mother and more than a little intimidated by Daryl. Once he was gone from Matt's line of sight, she let out long sigh and ran a slightly shaky hand through her hair.

"Thank you." She said to Daryl, who remained where he was, still watching her with that unreadable expression on his face. She tried to smile at him. "He's just a kid. He doesn't know any better. I know he didn't mean anything by it." She turned and splashed some more water on her arms before standing and piling her hair back up into a ponytail.

"How'd ya get 'em?"

Her hand stilled above her head, where she had been wrapping her elastic around her pony. She glanced out at the quarry lake as she finished tying up her hair and turned to face him fully.

"I popped the blade out of my dad's razor." She said bluntly, meeting his gaze head-on. She thought she saw his jaw tick, but he just stared right back at her. "The orderlies at the hospital were impressed. Said they were amazed I'd managed to keep my hand steady." She smiled sardonically. "Amazing where willpower will get you, huh?" She walked up the path and stopped just before him for a moment, raising her chin to look at him better, before brushing past and back to camp for dinner.

**A/N: Sooooo…. We get a little bit more of Matt out of this prologue than the entire twelve chapters I wrote before. We at least know SOMETHING about her. We also got to see a little Daryl/Matt interaction, which is always fun. **

**Okay, as for the tattoos, credit for the left lower arm sleeve and the koi fish on Matt's thigh go to my BFF. She has those exact tattoos (except her raven is on the **_**outside**_** of her arm), and I did base a lot of Matt's mannerisms/attitudes off of her, so it seemed only fitting to give her a couple of her tattoos. They're excellent pieces that my BFF designed herself. So, there's her credit. Please resist the urge to steal her designs, or at least make them your own if you absolutely can't do it. I'm not judging you guys AT ALL (I have a tattoo based on another one I once saw) or trying to insinuate anything, but it's something I feel the need to say since I'm borrowing **_**her**_** art for my character. Sorry. As for the rest of the tattoos, they're mostly just concepts I came up with. All the flowers have meanings (which will be explained, or you can look it up if you'd like, but where's the fun in that?). The jellyfish is actually my own tattoo (or will be, once it's finished), in that exact location. I'm in love with that piece. The girl on Matt's upper right arm will be explained as well, and does not actually exist, so any gung-ho artists out there who wanna sketch up some fan-art, go right ahead. I'd love to see her brought to life, so to speak. **


	2. I'll Make a Bet With You

**A/N: Hello again, lovelies. Here we are again, with chapter one of the reboot. I had to go back and edit this one heavily because I've been doing nothing but rewatching Sherlock (I want season three already!) and therefore ended up typing English. Which, with their correct usage of the English language and fantastic slang terms, is all well and good, but it's odd when I sound as American as I am (which is thoroughly) in one chapter, and then sound as British as I am not in the next. So, if anything snuck through, sorry. Blame the magnificence of Benedict Cumberbatch ;)**

**Also, I am so shamelessly plugging here- If anyone is an artist, and reads my story and wants to do fan-art, I would **_**LOVE**_**that! I'm a **_**terrible**_** artist (not with words), but I love seeing the things in my head come to life! If you draw something, email me a link or whatever, and I'll put it up on my bio for everyone to see! I'll plug your page, too. Got a DeviantArt? I'll plug that! I'll totally promote the crap out of you, because I'll love you for drawing me fan-art! If you want a better description of Matt, hit me up and I'll totally give you one. **

**The point I am trying to make here guys is FAN-ART: I LOVE IT AND WOULD LOVE TO HAVE SOME. FEEL FREE TO DRAW ME SOME. XD /3 **

It was too quiet.

Matt sat on top of the RV with Dale, writing out short quizzes for Carl and Sophia while the older man read. As she set aside the math quiz and grabbed another blank sheet of paper to write up one for _To Kill a Mockingbird_, she glanced around at the silent camp.

"They should be back by now." She said quietly to Dale. "They still aren't back."

Glenn, T-Dog, Andrea, Merle, Jacqui, and Morales had gone into the city on a run. That had been yesterday. It didn't normally take them so long to make a simple supply run, and it was clear people were worried. Amy was really upset at the possibility that her older sister might be dead, and the remainder of the Martinez family was sequestered in their tent, praying. Dale was distracting himself with his novel, but it was clear he was troubled by the fact that the group hadn't come back. He was good friends with Glenn, and he had a great fondness for Andrea and Amy.

The only one who didn't seem worried was Daryl. He'd gotten up early in the morning while it was still dark and left to go hunt without a word or even a glance at Merle's undisturbed things. He'd been gone a few hours, and Matt suspected he'd stay gone for a while yet.

Lori was giving Carl a haircut in the middle of camp, while Shane joked around with the boy, something about frog-legs. Lori made a face at the two of them as they laughed. Matt shook her head and looked down at the still-blank paper. She sighed.

She was worried, too. They were all her friends (except Merle). Jacqui, especially. The other woman hadn't judged Matt when she first joined the camp. She'd offered to share her tent, because Matt had lost hers awhile back. She helped Matt learn the flow of camp life, and convinced the others to accept her. She was Matt's closest friend in camp, and Matt was concerned about her.

The quiet of camp was abruptly disturbed by a loud wail piercing the air. A couple of people started, and Matt's head whipped up at the noise. She looked to Dale questioningly as he lifted his binoculars. "Hey, Dale, what is that?"

Shane approached the RV and looked up to them on the roof. "Talk to me, Dale!"

He peered through them, brow furrowed, and then lowered them to shrug at her and Shane. "I can't tell yet."

Amy moved forward anxiously. "Is it them? Are they back?"

"Hold on, Amy. We're gonna find out." Matt assured her as Dale peered through the binoculars again.

"I'll be damned."

"What is it?" Amy asked, as Dale passed the binoculars to Matt. She squinted through them.

"A stolen car is my guess." The old man said.

Matt nodded in agreement, following the movement of the vehicle as it came closer. She handed Dale his binoculars back and climbed off the RV's roof as a bright yellow Challenger screamed into camp. The engine cut off and Glenn jumped out of the car, grinning. "Hi!"

Matt smiled and hi-fived him as everyone else rushed forward. Amy ran right up to him, demanding to know if Andrea was alright, yelling to be heard over the still-shrieking car alarm.

"Holy crap! Turn that damn thing off!" Dale hollered as he came down off the RV.

"I don't know how!" Glenn yelled back, wincing. Shane came forward impatiently as Amy fluttered around Glenn.

"Pop the hood, please. Pop the damn hood, please!" Matt moved around Glenn, who was desperately trying to pay attention to everyone at once.

"Andrea…"

"Pop the damn hood!" Matt leaned in through the open window and pulled the lever, popping the hood. Shane pushed the thing up and immediately disconnected the battery.

"Is she okay? Is she alright?!" Amy was still there, barely giving Glenn any space. Matt slid out of the window and leaned against the car.

"She's okay! She's okay!" Glenn was smiling and trying to get Amy to leave him alone. Shane slammed the hood, startling Matt, and stomped over to the young Asian.

"Is she coming back? Why isn't she with you? Where is she? She's okay?"

Glenn looked exasperated. "Yes! Yeah, fine. Everybody is. Well, Merle not so much." He shrugged and Matt's brow furrowed. What did he mean, Merle wasn't fine?

"Are you crazy?" Shane asked, drawing Glenn's attention away from Amy. "Driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every walker for miles?"

Matt rolled her eyes. "Shane, I think we're okay."

He looked at her in disbelief. "You call being stupid okay?"

Dale intervened, putting his hands up in a calming gesture. "Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source. We're not arguing," He added, at Shane's look, "I'm just saying." He put a hand on Glenn's shoulder and looked at the younger man. "Wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?"

Glenn shrugged, still grinning. "Sorry. Got a cool car."

Matt nodded. "Hell yeah, you did. My _man_." She held out her hand for another high-five and Glenn reciprocated. The sound of another engine drew everyone's gaze as a large truck rolled to a stop behind the Challenger. Andrea got out and immediately looked for her sister.

"Andrea!" The two sisters met and hugged each other, crying happily. Morales hopped out as well, and his family ran to him. He hugged them all. Jacqui came around from the back, and Matt smiled at the sight of her. She held out her arms and hugged her friend tightly.

"I'm so glad you're okay." She said, squeezing the woman. Jacqui nodded and smiled at her. They released each other and Matt grinned as T-Dog joined the group.

"You are a welcome sight." Dale laughed as he and Morales hugged. "I thought we had lost you folks for sure."

"How'd y'all get outta there anyway?" Shane asked, arms crossed over his chest. Matt wanted to scowl. Why did it matter? They were all safe. Well, almost all of them.

"The new guy." Glenn said. "He got us out."

Shane looked confused. "New guy?"

Morales shook his head and grinned. "Yeah, crazy _vato_ just got into town. Hey, helicopter boy!" He called back to the truck. "Come say hello!" He looked over to Shane. "The guy's a cop like you."

Most of the group looked at each other in mild confusion as a tall, lean figure came from the van. He looked around. Matt noticed Shane's look of utter shock. The man scanned the crowd and stopped as he came to Lori and Carl, off to the side. Lori was trying to cheer the boy up.

"Oh my God." Matt heard the man's whisper, and then Carl saw him.

"Dad! DAD!" He ran for the man, who caught him up in his arms, sobbing with relief. Lori joined them and the man hugged her as well, clinging to them. Matt watched as the family reunited. She spared a glance at Shane as she turned, and saw that his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Looking back to the trio hugging, she saw Lori staring at Shane with wide, horrified eyes.

XxXxXxX

That night, as everyone sat around the fires, officer Rick Grimes described what he had gone through to make it to his wife and son. He told them about his disorientation upon waking up at the hospital, and how confused he'd been about what was happening around him.

"Mom said you died." Carl said, looking up at his dad. Rick hugged him tighter to his side.

"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it."

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta." Lori said, looking at Rick. "And it never happened."

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell." He replied. "And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun."

Shane nodded his head, running a hand over his hair. "Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, you know?"

Rick looked at Shane, really looked at him. "I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it." Shane smiled at his friend, but it looked strained.

Dale smiled at Rick. "There go those words falling short again. Paltry things."

Shane got up and walked down to the Peletier family's fire as Carl chattered on about camp life, telling Rick about playing with Sophia and the Martinez children, and helping the men when he could. He told his father all about his "school" work, smiling proudly as he boasted about how well he was doing.

"Matt says I'm really good at math, but I like English best. We just finished _To Kill a Mockingbird_. I liked it. Matt says we're reading _The Princess Bride_ next, but it doesn't sound all that interesting." He wrinkled his nose and there was laughter around the pit.

"Well, Matt sounds like he must be a good teacher." Rick said, smiling at his son.

"Thanks." Matt said, meeting Rick's eyes across the fire. He gave her a look of surprise before smiling at her as well and nodding. "He's pretty good at history, too, when he pays attention." She chuckled when Carl stuck his tongue out at her and returned the action, touching the tip of her tongue to her labret. "He says it's boring."

Rick mussed his son's hair. "Better listen there, bud. That's important stuff."

"How do you know so much, anyway?" Amy asked Matt. "I never asked."

Matt shrugged. "I read a lot. Have a really good memory. I just… hold on to things. Never know when they'll come in handy." She smiled at the group. "Knowledge is power." She joked.

"Were you a teacher?" Andrea asked. Matt shook her head.

"I was a librarian, for a while. I volunteered at the public library in my hometown when I was younger. Eventually, they gave me a job. When I moved to Atlanta, I went to college for my degree. Library sciences. I worked at a school for a while, but the tattoos made it hard to keep." She held up her arms, and the sleeves of her skull-patterned sweater slid down to reveal her ink. "Strangely enough, the kids didn't mind. It was the other teachers that complained to the principal." She made a face and lowered her arms. "I did work at a bookstore after that. Split my time between there and the parlor. It was good money."

Amy sat up a little straighter. "Wait, so you know _how_ to do that?" She pointed to Matt's now concealed tattoos.

Matt nodded, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Yeah. I'm legit. Worked at a shop a few streets over from my apartment. I designed all of my own, too. Sketches, transfers, and all. The guy who apprenticed me- Mitch- he applied them. I could've done the ones on my lower legs myself. Probably my feet, too." She made a face. "I didn't want to, though."

Amy smiled in excitement. "Do you think you could-"

"Oh, no." Andrea cut her off. "I know where that's going. No."

Amy's shoulders dropped and she glared at her sister. "Why not?"

Andrea laughed. "You are _not_ getting a tattoo."

Matt held up her hands. "I don't even have the proper equipment." Amy looked totally dejected and Matt tried to cheer her up. "I could draw you something, if you want? Just to keep."

Amy grinned and nodded, and Andrea looked at Matt in thanks. She shrugged, as if to say, "What are you going to do?"

XxXxXxX

Matt pulled out her sketchbook as Shane returned to the fire. She was close enough to the flames to give her light to draw, and she began etching out the outline of Amy's picture with her pencil as Shane sat down.

Dale cleared his throat and looked around at them all. "Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."

Matt's ears twitched as her hand moved over the paper, and she glanced up at everyone from under her lashes. They all looked uneasy, and T-Dog was staring hard at the fire. He nodded slowly.

"I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me."

Rick shook his head. "I cuffed him. That makes it mine."

Glenn looked at them both. "Guys, it isn't a competition." He glanced at T-Dog. "I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy."

T-Dog stared back at him, his face hard. "I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him."

"We could lie." Amy suggested."

"Or tell the truth." Andrea countered. "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed." She glanced at Lori. "Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."

Dale scoffed and looked at her. "And that's what we tell Daryl? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise… We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"Out for blood…" Matt murmured as she sketched. She glanced up and saw everyone looking at her, and cleared her throat. "I just mean… Merle is Daryl's only family. You've seen them," she said to Dale, "They keep their camp away from everyone else. They hardly ever interact with us if they don't have to." She shook her head. "No matter what you tell him, Daryl's going to want someone's blood. And if Merle somehow makes his way back to camp…" She shrugged. "It won't be pretty."

Shane shook his head. "I somehow doubt that's gonna happen."

Matt raised her eyebrows at him. "Look, I don't _like _the guy, but I have to admit Merle is one tough S.O.B. I would be more surprised if he _didn't_ show up at camp, pissed as a cat dunked in acid."

T-Dog was still staring at the fire, his expression guilty. "I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it."

Andrea looked at him, puzzled. "We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?"

T-Dog looked at all of them, one at a time. "I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that… not that chain, not that padlock." He stared right at Rick. "My point… Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us."

**A/N: I must admit, I'm really liking this revised story so far. Matt's much more rounded and actually has a fully written-out backstory now, versus before when I got to chapter five and realized I didn't have anything and sort of flew by the seat of my pants. Now, she's got a whole history that we'll see in little bits here and there- we've already seen a good bit of it from the prologue chapters and now, here. I hope everyone's liking it so far. Please comment, favorite, follow, and show me some love. Alternatively, if you hate it and miss the old one, tell me! I want to know what people think!**


	3. Dead End Friends

**A/N: Dun, dun, dun… CHAPTER TWO. Sorry, I'm hyper. I drank a lot of coffee at work because it was absolutely murderously busy, and then I ate a few cupcakes and watched some Sherlock. So, I'm hyper. And randomizing today. Oh, look, it's raining outside. It's been doing that a lot the last few days. Someone said it was because of Hurricane Andrea, and I just went "Pfffttt… figures. Stupid bitch" and only one person got it and the two of us had a little five minute laugh session. Everyone else was puzzled. But you guys get it, right? Because clearly you're fans. I made a funny earlier and said, "Could be worse. Could be hurricane Lori" and me and my friend had another five minute laugh session. People don't really get me…**

**Okay, focus. Chapter two. Moving onward. This story is really flowing easier than the original version. I'm loving it. YAY FOR THAT.**

**I'm going to stop now. I should stop writing these last…**

The next morning was a flurry of activity. Daryl hadn't returned from his hunt during the night, but there was still plenty to do. Shane took off to retrieve more water for the camp, while Carol, Jacqui, Andrea, and Amy went around collecting laundry to do, which usually became an all-day affair. Matt handed over her small pile of dirty clothes to Jacqui as she left the tent, stretching and cracking her back. T-Dog handed her a mug of coffee as she passed, and she inhaled the scent of it gratefully.

"I love you, man. Seriously." She grinned at him and took a sip, heading over to the Challenger, where Glenn stood, trying to block Dale's path.

"Please, man." He begged. "Don't do this. It's heartless."

Matt grinned and shoved the mug into Glenn's hands, clapping him on the back and distracting him long enough for Dale to get past. "Live with it, dude. It has to be done." She leaned in through the window to pop the hood for Dale as she had done yesterday for Shane, then joined the older man in front of the car.

"What're we taking?" She asked, peering down into the car's inner workings.

"Whatever we can." Dale replied.

"Where's Jim?" Matt asked as she tied her hair back into a loose knot. She took the bandana knotted around her wrist and wrapped it around her head, tying a knot at the top a-la-Rosie the Riveter.

"Dunno." Dale said. "Disappeared a little while ago. Sure he's around somewhere." He glanced at her. "You know anything about cars?"

She smiled. "My best friend's dad owned a garage. Mostly bikes, but I think I know what to look for."

A few minutes later, Rick wandered over to stand by Glenn as Dale and Matt worked. Glenn was still getting over the loss of the car.

"Look at 'em. Vultures. Yeah, go on, strip it clean."

Dale walked past carrying something. "Generators need every drop of fuel they can get. Got no power without it."

Matt looked up from the hood. "Sorry, Glenn."

He pouted. "Thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days."

Rick clapped him on the back and smiled. "Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday." He walked off in search of his wife as they finished stripping down the car. Dale relieved Matt of duty and she wiped her greasy hands on her jeans before wandering off to find something to do.

She sat for a few minutes and worked on Amy's drawing, adding more detail. Carl and Sophia approached her while she worked.

"Would you take us into the woods?" Carl asked. "We wanna go for a walk."

Matt scrutinized him. "You ask your mom?"

Carl nodded. "She said we should ask you. She's busy."

Matt sighed and tossed her sketchbook back in her tent before standing. "Alright, c'mon. But we're not going far. It's too hot to be hiking all over." She took Sophia's hand and grabbed her trusty bat. The three of them walked past the line of trees.

XxXxXxX

"Are you asking me or telling me?"

Rick looked calmly at his wife. "Asking."

Lori shook her head. "Well, I think it's crazy. I think it is just the stupidest way to break your son…" She was interrupted by the sound of shrieks from beyond the trees.

"Mom!"

Lori dropped what she was doing and she and Rick ran toward the woods. "Carl!" The others joined them, running toward the screams.

"Dad!"

"Baby!"

Sophia and Carl ran out from the trees, Sophia crying. "Mama! Mommy!" She ran to Carol and the woman clutched her daughter to her. Lori yelled for Carl again as Glenn tossed Rick a thick metal pole. As they continued racing to the spot Carl and Sophia ran from, they heard Matt's voice calling out.

"Over here! Come on! Come on!" Rick paused long enough to check on Carl, who was being checked over by Lori, before joining everyone else.

They all stood around a walker, watching as it busily devoured a dead deer, the crossbow bolts sticking in the carcass' side quivering with every movement. Andrea and Amy made noises of disgust and the walker looked up, spotting them. It turned on the girls, and the men began wailing on it with their objects, beating it back. Matt choked up on her bat and swung, connecting with the thing's mangled face and knocking it off balance enough for Dale to chop its head off with his axe. The decapitated body fell with a thud and the head rolled a few feet to rest near Matt's feet. Grimacing, she toed it a little further away.

Dale wiped his forehead, looking shocked. "It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain."

"Well, they're running out of food in the city. That's what." Jim stated, lowering his weapon.

"If that's just the first, we can expect more." Matt added. As they all mumbled agreements and turned to leave the thing, rustling caught their attention. They all raised their weapons again, expecting another walker. Branches snapped and footsteps grew closer.

Daryl Dixon broke through the bush, crossbow in hand. He eyed everyone around him warily before dropping his gaze to the mess on the ground in front of them. They all lowered their weapons as Shane rolled his eyes and muttered a barely intelligible, "Oh, Jesus."

"Son of a bitch!" Daryl exclaimed, tramping through the bush and into the circle of people. "That's my deer!" He approached the deer and the walker body, looking more and more irritated. "Look at it. All gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" He punctuated each insult with a kick to the corpse. Everyone backed away, not wanting to incur his wrath.

"Now, calm down, son." Dale tried. "That's not helping."

"What d'you know about it, old man?" Daryl got right in Dale's face. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'." Matt bit her lip and tried to keep a straight face, but a small giggle escaped her, and she looked apologetically at Dale. Daryl turned his glare to her. "What're you laughing at, pipsqueak?"

Matt raised her eyebrows at the nickname. "You made a joke." She observed simply, but Daryl was already turning back to his deer. He sighed as he began yanking out his arrows, each one making a disgusting sucking sound as he pulled on them. "I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison." He yanked a little harder than necessary on the arrows as Amy and Andrea made faces of disgust. Shane and Rick shared a loaded look as Daryl pulled out the last arrow and pointed at the deer's ruined neck with it.

"What'da think? Think we can cut around this chewed up part here?" He looked at everyone. Glenn looked a little queasy at the idea, and Matt wrinkled her nose. The sisters looked ready to puke at the thought.

"I would not risk that." Shane said, holding his gun across his shoulders and shaking his head. The others nodded and Daryl kicked the deer again.

"That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel... about a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

There was a faint clicking sound and everyone turned to see the walker head by Matt's feet moving its teeth.

Amy blanched. "Oh, God."

"Oh, ugh." Matt kicked the thing away from her, closer to the deer. "Fucking thing doesn't even have a stomach and it's still hungry." She had to admit that a small part of her found that fascinating, and wondered what parts of the brain exactly the disease or whatever it was stimulated to create that kind of hunger. But mostly, she was just grossed out at the image in her head of the walker head trying to eat anything.

"C'mon, people, what the hell?" Daryl took aim and shot it right in the eye. Everyone looked a little uneasy at his excellent aim. Matt watched as Daryl put his boot against the now-really-dead head and pulled out his arrow, wiping it on his pants. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothin'?" He stalked off into the camp, the others close behind.

"Merle!" Daryl yelled for his brother as he tossed the squirrels on the table by his tent, his crossbow close behind. "Merle, Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up." He peered into the empty tent, and then looked around the camp for his brother, refusing to be still. Shane jogged to catch up to him.

"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you."

Daryl paused to look at him and then continued moving, looking like he'd sit down and start skinning. "'Bout what?"

Shane scratched his head. "About Merle. There was a… there was a problem in Atlanta."

Daryl sniffed and eyed the former cop. "He dead?"

"We're not sure."

Daryl shook his head, clearly confused and irritated. "He either is or he ain't!"

Rick stepped in to try and explain, "Look, your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

Daryl paused, staring at Rick like he'd grown an extra head. "Hold on. Let me process this. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" Matt watched as Rick squared his shoulders and met Daryl's glare head on.

"Yeah."

There was a beat of silence, and then Daryl lunged forward in an attempt to grab Rick, who shoved him off and backed away. Everyone was yelling for Daryl to stop, and Shane was moving around behind the redneck. Matt watched, wide-eyed, as T-Dog hollered something about a knife while Daryl pulled one out. Shane rushed forward and grabbed Daryl, shoving him into a choke hold and bringing him almost to his knees as Rick took Daryl's knife and threw it aside.

Daryl winced and tried to squirm away, but Shane was not letting up. "Choke hold's illegal, man." He snapped, and Shane smirked.

"Yeah, well you can file a complaint." Daryl shifted, trying once again to escape, and Shane tightened his hold. "Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day."

Rick bent so that he was eye level with Daryl. "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?"

Daryl eyed him and eventually nodded, and Shane released him, stepping back. Daryl picked himself up off the ground, and Matt picked his knife up from the dirt, handing it hilt first to Rick.

"Out for blood," she said to him quietly and eyeing the still glaring Dixon, "Didn't I tell you?" He made a noise of agreement before turning back to the redneck.

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." He told the younger man, who seemed to at least understand that. Matt turned at the sound of footsteps and heard T-Dog coming back with firewood. He must have caught the tail end of Rick's statement, because he dropped the wood and joined them.

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it."

Daryl scoffed. "What, you couldn't pick it up?" When T-Dog explained about the drain, Daryl rolled his eyes. "If it's s'pposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Well, maybe this will." T-Dog replied. "Look, I chained the door to the roof… So the geeks couldn't get at him… With a padlock. It's gotta count for something!" He added, as Daryl began walking away.

"To hell with y'all!" The man yelled back at them. Just tell me where he is so that I can go get him."

"He'll show you." Everyone turned at Lori's hard voice, but she was staring at her husband evenly, her jaw set. "Isn't that right?"

Everyone looked to Rick and he nodded, looking at Daryl. "I'm going back."

The only sound heard in the camp was of the RV door slamming as Lori disappeared inside.

**A/N: So, it may not seem like it, but this one is almost as long as the first chapter. So I'll cut it off here. We'll get more Matt in the next few chapters, which will also get longer. It was a shame we didn't really get to see her. And I know it seems like Daryl doesn't know she exists, but at this point he sees her more as an annoyance, like everyone else at camp. You'll understand better in the next few chapters. I promise =)**


	4. The World You Made is Gone

**A/N: CHAPTER THREE! I should stop getting so excited over every new chapter, but considering how easily this story is flowing now that I'm revising it, and how much **_**better**_** I think it is compared to my original version, I just get excited every time I open a new document for another chapter and don't get writer's block!**

**No super long memo this time. I know you guys find those annoying sometimes. **

Matt watched from her spot by the RV the next morning as Rick and Daryl loaded up the back of cube truck, preparing to go back into the city. Shane was by Rick's side, attempting to talk the man out of it. Matt focused her eyes on her sketchbook as her ears strained to hear their conversation.

"I'm not saying to hell with anybody… Not you Shane…"

Shane scoffed. "Yeah, Lori least of all. Tell her that."

"She knows."

Matt glanced up from under her lashes as Daryl hopped into the truck. Shane grabbed Rick's arm. "Well, look, I… I don't know, okay, Rick? So could you just… Could you throw me a bone, here, man?" He leaned closer to his friend. "Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?"

Daryl appeared at the opening of the truck and glared at the cop. "Hey, choose your words more carefully."

Shane waved his hand at Daryl absently, still focused on Rick. "No, douche bag's what I meant. Merle Dixon… the guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

Matt missed Rick's response as Dale stepped out of the RV and greeted her. She smiled up at him as he took in the camp scene before wandering over to the truck. Matt stood, closing her sketchbook and stuffing it in her rucksack, shouldering the bag and joining Dale and some of the others. She was in time to catch the end of Rick's sentence.

"I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would, too." He gestured to Lori.

Shane threw his hands up. "That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?"

"Four." They all turned as T-Dog stepped up, bag already prepared to leave. Daryl huffed and made a face.

"Man, my day just gets better and better, don't it?"

T-Dog turned to the redneck. "You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?"

"Why you?"

T-Dog just shook his head and threw his bag into the truck. "You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."

Matt sighed and grabbed her baseball bat from outside the tent before jogging back over to the group.

"That's four." Dale was saying as she tossed her bag into the truck.

"Five." She said, placing her foot on the step as if to get in. Shane scoffed and Daryl groaned. She rolled her eyes at his childish antics. "A douche bag Merle may be, but _I_ speak your language." She said to T-Dog, putting a hand on his shoulder as she moved around him and climbed into the front of the truck. Shane was complaining about the lack of manpower if the group, but quickly changed his tune when Rick mentioned a bag of guns he'd dropped when he first entered the city. Matt heard Lori's voice arguing with her husband, but tuned it out in favor of sorting through her bag. Jacqui came around to the window, looking worried.

"Honey, you don't have to do this."

Matt smiled at her and leaned out the window to give the woman a hug. "I'll be fine. Besides, someone needs to babysit." She joked, jerking her head at Daryl.

"You don't even have a gun." Jacqui insisted, shaking her head.

"Guns are overrated." Matt moved aside to allow Rick room to set his bag down on the floor. "I promise, Jacqui. I'll be fine." She heard the engine start up and grinned once more at the woman. "So don't give away my tent space. That's prime real estate right there!" T-Dog shut the truck door and Matt lurched forward a little as the vehicle began moving.

She sat in between Rick and Daryl in silence for a while as the truck wound down the mountain and toward the city. Eventually, she pulled out her sketchbook and began putting the finishing touches on Amy's drawing, although the somewhat bumpy ride made it difficult. Rick peered over her shoulder, trying not to appear nosy, and she shifted to show him her work. The action caused her to brush against Daryl's side, and he flinched away from her. Ignoring him, she smiled over at Rick, who was looking down at the page.

"It's very good." She told her honestly. "Amy's?"

Matt nodded. "Yeah. She told me once she likes mermaids. So I just took that and sort of… ran with it."

She'd done a close-up of a mermaid, ending the sketch just above the creature's belly button. Her hair was long and swirled around her as though underwater, shells, starfish, doubloons, and even a small fish skeleton tangled throughout the locks as decoration. Her features were vaguely Amy-like, with a bright smile on her face and freckles spattered across her nose and shoulders. Her wide eyes were looking up and left, as though there was something capturing her attention off-page. She wore a seashell bra, and layered over it was a piece of fish netting, wrapped around her in a one-shouldered-style crop top. Matt had doodled some bubbles and around the edges, and signed her name at the bottom.

"I'm just adding the last few details and then it'll be done." She sighed wistfully. "I wish I had some colored pencils. I'd love to add some color. But it isn't important. I just hope she'll like it."

"I think she will."

Daryl pulled to a stop by some railroad tracks, and they all hopped out, joining Glenn and T-Dog at the back of the truck. Glenn pointed down the tracks toward Atlanta. "We walk from here."

**XxXxXxX**

Matt occupied herself counting railroad lines as they walked toward the city line. She kept up easily with the men, but no one was offering up any inane chatter, so she had to find other things to keep her brain busy. She'd pushed the sleeves of her skull sweater up to her elbow, but even in the one hundred degree heat she refused to remove it.

_56… No wait, that can't be right. It should be higher._ She looked over her shoulder at the tracks behind her, and almost groaned. She'd lost count. Sighing, she faced forward. _1, 2, 3, 4, 5…._

…_.46, 47, 48, 49, 50…._

"Here."

Matt jumped and looked to her left in surprise, where a grumpy-looking Daryl Dixon stood, holding out a handgun. Matt placed a hand to her pounding heart and stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Jesus Christ! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She swallowed and let out a shaky breath. "The hell do you want?"

Daryl huffed and gestured with the gun. "Here," he said again. "Shane said back at camp ya ain't got a gun."

Matt eyed him suspiciously. "So you're giving me yours? Which you somehow magically kept hidden all this time? Oh, don't give me that look," she added, at the face he made, "You expect me to believe you managed to keep a gun squirrelled away somewhere at camp without Shane the Bloodhound tracking it down?"

Daryl huffed again and rolled his eyes. "Will ya just take the damn thing an' shut up already? Jesus, woman, I'm tryin' to do ya a favor."

Matt raised a studded eyebrow at that. "By handing me a _gun_? Most people wouldn't consider that a favor. I'll have to pass. I don't need a gun."

Daryl stared at her, an odd expression on his face. Shaking his head (probably at what he considered to be her "stupidity"), he shoved the gun into his jeans behind his back. "Ain't gonna last long without one." He stared at the city before them, which was growing closer and closer. "Why do ya think we're pickin' up Officer Friendly's stash?"

"I don't like guns." She said firmly. "My reasons are my own and nobody's business." She glanced at him. "You got a problem with that?"

Daryl held up his hands. "Man, do what ya want. The hell I care?"

Irritated now, and completely off-count with her lines, Matt stomped ahead to catch up to Glenn in the front, leaving Daryl Dixon behind.

**XxXxXxX**

Damn, she was confusing.

Daryl watched the blonde as she walked away, clearly annoyed with him. The pile of blonde hair on top of her head bobbed with every movement, and rocks crunched under her tall black boots, wrapped around tight jeans covered in grease and faded blood stains, which rode low on tan hips. She practically drowned in some ridiculous red sweater covered in white skulls that managed to make her tits look even smaller than they already were, with the sleeves pushed up to the elbows, leaving her tattoos- and her scars, if you knew where to look and he did- visible. Dumb girl had to be roastin'.

He found his eyes wanderin' back down to her perky ass, and then quickly looked away before anyone could notice. Stupid, lookin' at some chick's ass when Merle was on some roof somewhere, dyin'. Not like she was offerin' anythin' anyhow. She hardly ever looked at him, much less talked to him. Merle'd been a regular asshole when she'd first gotten to camp, leerin' and teasin'. He'd come back from a hunt one day to find his brother nursin' his dick and glarin' at the blonde, who smirked back, colored arms crossed under her chest. Merle never said another word to or about her, and she kept on pretendin' the Dixons didn't exist.

But he saw her, sometimes, watching him from the corner of her eye. She'd be under a tree somewhere, head bent over that damn pad of hers, pencil flying, and she'd glance up at him, thinkin' he didn't see. Or she'd be by the fire at night with everyone else, laughin' and carryin' on 'bout things'd happened 'fore the world went to shit, and she'd turn her head and eye him across the pit, the fire drawing attention to the metal in her face. She always looked away when he saw her, like she was guilty of somethin'.

So he'd started watchin' her. It was curiosity, mostly. Everyone else at camp was so damn chummy, offerin' up their life story if ye'd listen. But she kept to herself. Sure, she'd tell stories 'bout her an' her friend livin' in the city, or jokes she'd picked up around. She told 'em 'bout goin' to college, and that she'd worked at some tattoo place a few streets over from her apartment. But that didn't tell anybody anythin'.

She spent most of her time watchin' the brats. She taught 'em whatever homeschoolin' shit she'd come up with (should be learnin' how to survive, y'ask him), and then they'd go down to the lake and swim, or they'd take some walk through the woods. The brats liked her, always laughin' and smilin', and she seemed ta really like 'em back. Even when she just sat 'round and drew or whatever, the kids were usually a few feet away, doin' their own thing.

When she wasn't playin' babysitter, she was usually up on the roof of Dale's RV, reading or sketching, or by her tent doin' the same. She pulled her weight around camp, sure, but when her work was done, she just sat around on her ass. And usually by herself, too, 'less the brats found her. She got along well with everyone, always chattin' away with Dale, or laughin' it up with Glenn and Amy. She worked with Jim, listenin' to what he told her, or she'd go out scoutin' for firewood with T-Dog. But again, she kept herself to herself. She let the women do her laundry, pitching in when she could, but she never went down to the lake to get clean when they did. She always went alone, usually real early in the mornin' 'fore anyone woke up. He'd seen her loads of times, either comin' or goin', while he got ready to go hunt. Sometimes, she smiled at him or waved a little, but most times she walked right past.

Daryl wanted to know what her deal was. So he kept an eye on her.

He'd discovered the arm scars pretty easily. He had to admit she was clever, coverin' 'em up with all that ink. Most people wouldn't notice 'em at all, 'less they were starin' right at 'em. But Daryl noticed everythin'.

It was obvious they were suicide scars. There were seven on her right arm, and six and a half on her left, all of them almost perfectly straight and pretty evenly spaced. Somebody'd stopped her 'fore she could finish the job. He wanted to know why seven, though. Pretty specific number.

She hid 'em, too. Not just with the tats, either. They were in the middle of Georgia summer, and she walked 'round camp in long sleeves all the damn time. Made him sweat just lookin' at her. She wore jeans all the time, too, which made him think maybe there were other scars she didn't feel like showin'. If her sleeves were pushed up, and somebody came over, or tried to hand her somethin', she'd push the sleeve down first. He didn't think she was embarrassed by 'em. Probbly just didn't feel like fieldin' questions.

She was pretty damn jumpy, too, 'neath it all. Loud noises made her flinch, and so did angry voices. She avoided Ed the wife-beater all the time, goin' outta her way to do it. She avoided Shane as much as possible, too, although he wasn't mean to her. When people touched her, she moved away, 'specially if it was her arms or back.

Daryl was sure he had her pegged, but then she'd go and do somethin' like rough house with Olive Oyl's kid, slinging him 'round and rollin' in dirt, or roll her eyes at Shane. The things she did, the flinches and fidgetin', nobody else saw it. To them, she was some tattooed girl with attitude. She was normal. Didn't have a care in the world, even with the dead standin' up and bitin'. But there was somethin' 'neath that.

Daryl saw it at the lake that day, when he'd stopped the kid's questions and got him off her back. She'd looked up, relieved, and it'd been there in her eyes- that look people get when somethin's hauntin' 'em. It had stared at him and then ran at his question. Replaced by somethin' harder, stronger. Somethin' that stood up to him, even though it didn't know him.

"_It's amazing where willpower will get you, huh?"_

She'd brushed past him, surprisin' him again. He'd thought she was like him. And she was, sort of. She'd been broken, and she'd put herself back together, covered herself in armor to keep everyone out so she wouldn't get broken again. But there was more of her left than he had. She wasn't as messed up. She was better than him.

The thought stuck in his craw, and pissed him off.

**XxXxXxX**

They stopped at a fence not long after and cut into the wire, slipping through the hole and into Atlanta.

"Merle first or guns?" Rick asked, dusting off his pants.

"Merle!" Daryl snapped. "We ain't even having this conversation." They all looked to Glenn instead, who knew the layout of the city better than they.

"Merle first." He said, almost reluctantly. Daryl looked triumphant.

They made their way to the building easily enough, only having to kill a few walkers in their way. Inside the department store, they came across what used to be a woman, and Daryl dispatched her with a bolt to the head and some snarky comment. They wound up the stairs without any obstacles, and T-Dog cut through the padlock with the bolt cutters they'd borrowed from Dale. As the chain clattered to the ground, Matt grabbed Rick's sleeve.

"Cat dunked in acid." She reminded him quietly, and he nodded. "I have your back." They burst through the door and onto the roof, Daryl hollering his brother's name.

The space was free of people, of any form. Daryl spun around, looking everywhere. Matt stepped further onto the rooftop and took in the sight of a pool of blood by a pipe. Daryl paused, seeing something on the ground, and began to sob.

"No! No! No!"

A saw lay in the red puddle, slightly rusty and now-stained. Little hunks of something pale were caught in some of the teeth. The handcuffs attached to the pipe were empty, stained with still-wet blood. A hand lay discarded by the saw, already decaying.

Everyone looked on helplessly as Daryl screamed at the sky.

**A/N: Whew, a bit longer, this one. We also got to see a little bit of Matt from Daryl's perspective, although clearly she isn't yet a big idea or anything to him. I hope it worked, his p.o.v. I both love and loathe Daryl for his complexity and difficulty in being written. So, I hope it was good. Please send me reviews! I love them and I want to know what you loved and what could've been done different/better.**


	5. Streets Are Uneven

**A/N: Chapter numero quatro! (Did I spell that right. It's been like, four years since high school Spanish, and for some reason, that doesn't look right) This will be the first time I'm changing something significant in the show for the story. I normally don't like doing that. I prefer to keep as close to the show as possible, to see what it would be like if Matt was just there. But sometimes it's fun to change things up =) Just don't expect it all the time, lol.**

Daryl whirled on the group, aiming his crossbow right in T-Dog's face, his own set in anger. Matt tensed at the same time, hands on her bat. In the sudden silence, there was a loud _click_ as Rick put his Python against Daryl's temple and pulled the hammer back.

"I won't hesitate." He told the redneck in a low, even tone. "I don't care if every walker in the city hears it."

Matt could see that the former officer was dead serious, and she held her breath, waiting for bloodshed. But Daryl lowered his crossbow, and glanced back at T-Dog, asking for something to wrap the hand up in. Before T could produce one, Matt had pulled her own bandana from around her head and held it out to him in silence. He took it without a word and picked up his brother's appendage, wrapping it up and shoving it in Glenn's backpack. "I guess the handsaw was too dull for the handcuffs. Ain't that a bitch." He looked around at the rooftop, eyes scanning everything. "Must've used a tourniquet. Maybe his belt. Be much more blood if he didn't." His eyes caught sight of a trail of blood, and he began following it, the rest of them close on his heels. Matt heard the clatter of T-Dog picking up Dale's tools before he joined them.

The trail took them down another flight of stairs and into an office building. Daryl killed a straggling walker with a bow while everyone fanned out to make sure the coast was clear. Matt poked her head into a small kitchenette area, which had probably served as the break room. There were no geeks rambling around, but her eyes caught sight of a lit stove, and she ventured over to it out of morbid curiosity. Something was resting on the stove, just off the lit burner. She reached out and picked it up, realizing it was an old-fashioned iron. She saw something dark sticking to the metal, and held it up to get a better look, wrinkling her nose as she understood what it was.

She could hear Rick and the others talking, and then Daryl calling out his brother's name. Rick tried to quiet him, but he went ignored. Matt found her voice again and yelled across the space to them. "Over here! Guys!" She heard their footsteps and held up the iron for their inspection as they joined her at the stove.

"What's that burned stuff?" Daryl asked, gesturing to it with his knife. Matt glanced at him.

"Skin." She looked at the rest of them. "He cauterized the stump. Stopped the bleeding." She slipped her own knife out of her boot and used the blade to scrape away Merle's charred skin before shoving the cooled iron into her bag. T-Dog eyed her oddly.

"What're you doin'?" She shrugged at him and threw her pack back over her shoulder.

"Never know."

"Told you he was tough." Daryl said triumphantly. "Nobody can kill Merle but Merle."

"Don't take that on faith." Rick cautioned. "He's lost a lot of blood."

"You'd be surprised where willpower will get you." Matt told him quietly. She and Daryl shared a look before Daryl looked away, towards a broken window.

"Didn't stop him from bustin' outta this death trap." He said, jerking his head toward the opening.

"He left the building?" Glenn asked incredulously. "Why would he do that?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Daryl shot back. "He's out there alone, as far as he knows, doing what he's got to do. Surviving."

"You call that surviving?" T-Dog shook his head. "Wandering out in the streets, maybe passing out? What are his odds out there?"

"No worse'n bein' handcuffed an' left to rot by you sorry pricks. You couldn't kill him. Ain't so worried about some dumb dead bastard."

"What about 1,000 dead dumb bastards?" Rick asked. "Different story?"

"Takes a lot to kill a person that doesn't wanna die." They all looked to Matt, and she shrugged.

Daryl shook his head and told them they could do whatever the hell they wanted, ready to go off on his own and look. Rick talked him out of it, telling him they'd help if, he would just calm down. T-Dog peered out the window again before shaking his head at Rick.

"Only if we get those guns first. I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?"

**XxXxXxX**

"You're not doing this alone." Rick looked at Glenn, shaking his head.

"Even I think it's a bad idea and I don't even like you much." Daryl offered. Glenn rolled his eyes at the redneck's words, and Matt was tempted to smack him for being rude.

"It's a good idea, okay. If you just hear me out." He turned to Rick. "If we go out there in a group, we're slow, drawing attention. If I'm alone, I can move fast."

He knelt and drew a map of the city on the ground, marking the location of the guns and the building they were currently holed up in. "Look, that's the tank, five blocks from where we are now. That's the bag of guns." He made another X. "Here's the alley I dragged you into when we first met. That's where Daryl, Matt, and I will go."

"Why me?" Daryl asked.

"Your bow and her bat are quieter than his gun." Glenn informed him. "While Daryl and Matt wait in the alley, I run up the street, grab the bag."

"You got us elsewhere?" Rick asked, displeased with the thought. Glenn nodded and pointed down the street. Rick shook his head. "Two blocks away? Why?"

"I may not be able to come back the same way." He explained. "Walkers might cut me off. If that happens, I won't go back to Daryl and Matt. I'll go forward instead, all the way around to that alley where you guys are. Whichever direction I go, I got you in both places to cover me. Afterward, we'll all meet back here." He sat back, looking at them all.

Daryl eyed him, impressed. "Hey, kid, what'd you do 'fore all this?"

"Delivered pizzas." Glenn answered, puzzled. "Why?"

"That's great and all, but just how quick are you?" Matt asked, staring down at the map, analyzing it and taking in the route. They all looked to her, and she indicated the stretch of street Glenn would need to run. "Look, you're gonna need to move fast, right? Lamebrains all over. And that bag, how much does it weigh?" she glanced at Rick, and he shrugged. "Heavy, right? Awkward, too. You really think you can make a quick getaway with that bag on your shoulder? Especially if there's a chance you'll need to cut quick and change directions?"

"What're you suggesting?" Rick asked, hands on his hips.

She rocked back on her heels. "I can go." Rick immediately shook his head, and T-Dog and Glenn began voicing protests, but Matt just held up a hand for silence. "Look, I ran track and field six years. Long-distance, mostly. I'm used to carrying weight, too. My pack weighs at least 25 pounds and I carry it easily. I'm smaller than you, and quicker. It just makes more sense. You can stay with Daryl, and we'll stick to your plan. It's a good plan." She assured the Asian, smiling at him as he frowned. She looked to Rick. "You know I'm right."

He reluctantly nodded. Matt stood, dropping her bag and stripping off her sweater. She had a loose gray Van Halen tank underneath it, which she also pulled off, leaving her in a burgundy cotton sports-bra style crop top. She saw Glenn blush and Rick look away. T-Dog looked incredibly uncomfortable, but Daryl was still staring at her. She could feel his eyes taking in the definition and lean muscle she hid under her clothes, from her firm biceps to her flat, toned stomach and the metal bar through her belly button.

Her hair had come loose from its knot, and she piled it back up again before rolling her sweater and shirt up and stuffing them into her bag.

"Was that _really_ necessary?" Rick asked, finally looking back at her, although he kept his eyes firmly on her face. She shrugged, and propped her pack up against a wall.

"More comfortable. Less layers."

"More skin for walkers to chomp on." Daryl griped, finally turning away from her. She smirked, sure she saw the tips of his ears turn pink.

"They'll have to catch me first."

**XxXxXxX**

Outside in the alley, Daryl loaded his crossbow while Matt peered out down the street, taking in the layout.

"You got some balls, coming up with this plan. For a Chinaman." Glenn glanced over at Daryl, a little insulted and mollified.

"I'm Korean."

"Whatever."

Matt rolled her eyes and watched as a few walkers shuffled around past abandoned cars and debris. "No, no, guys. It's cool. I'm just the girl running through the walker gauntlet. No way _I've_ got any balls."

Glenn grinned over at her and slapped her on the back reassuringly, causing her to flinch a little. "Balls of steel, Matt. Balls of _steel._"

"Damn straight, man." She replied, smirking. "And don't you forget it."

"Ready?" He asked her, and she nodded, her smile falling away. Glenn opened the fence and she darted out, a blur. She raced down the street, trying to keep her Docs from making a lot of noise. A few walkers noticed and began following her, but they were slow.

She skid to a stop in front of the tank and snatched up the bag, tossing it over her shoulder carelessly. She felt a bruise form as the guns bashed into her back, but ignored it. She spotted a brown hat lying near it, and grabbed that as well, assuming it was Rick's. A walker appeared in front of her and she scrambled back, turning and starting back up the street. A walker snapped at her and she slammed her knife into its skull without hesitation, yanking the blade out and continuing on.

She turned into the alley and saw Daryl and Glenn fighting off a couple of guys. One of the guys looked up as she appeared and grabbed the attention of his friends. "That's it. That's the bag, _Vato_. Take it! Take it!"

He rushed her and tried to grab the bag off her shoulder, but Matt brought her knee up and slammed it into his crotch, causing him to double over in pain, as the bag slid off her shoulder onto the ground. She heard a thunk and then the guy's yelp of pain, and saw Daryl's bolt sticking out of his ass. Another man grabbed Matt and she stomped on his foot, but he wouldn't let go. A car pulled up to the alley and the men began backing towards it, still holding her hostage.

"Get the fuck off me!" She snarled, struggling. "Glenn! Daryl! Daryl!" A door opened behind her and they shoved her in, following and slamming the door shut. She heard the squeal of tires as the car peeled away.

**XxXxXxX**

"Matt!" Glenn yelled after the car as it disappeared. Daryl yanked him back into the alley and shut the gate to keep the walkers away. Daryl rounded on the lanky teen that had run into the alley, causing all the trouble.

"I'm gonna kick yer nuts up yer throat!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Stop." Rick and T-Dog raced over to them, the former cop sliding between the redneck and teen.

"They took Matt!" Glenn told the two men urgently.

"The little bastard and his little bastard homie friends. I'm gonna stomp your ass!" Daryl lunged for the boy again, and Rick shoved him back. The sound of rattling metal and walkers growling could be heard behind them.

"Get to the lab. C'mon, go." They all turned and ran back towards the building, Daryl pulling the teen by his shirt. Rick grabbed the bag of guns, his hat, and Matt's dropped knife and followed.


End file.
